Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
138. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if officials from his Department attend the weekly meetings held by the European Commission on preparing for Brexit. [48109/18]
View answer148. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which he has had meetings with his various European counterparts in the context of Brexit concerns and negotiations in the past six months. [41479/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 138 and 148 together.
Brexit is a priority issue for this Government, and the Taoiseach, my cabinet colleagues and I have taken every opportunity to engage with EU partners and the UK to advance Ireland’s priorities. I, as well as officials from my Department, remain in ongoing contact with representatives from EU Member States, the Commission and Task Force, and the UK.
Monthly meetings of the General Affairs Council (Article 50) are an opportunity for me to bring Ireland’s interests and concerns directly to both my EU counterparts, and to the Commission Task Force. Yesterday I attended the GAC (Article 50) in Brussels where my counterparts and I discussed last week’s announcement of the agreement between the negotiating teams. I have attended the GAC (Article 50) on a monthly basis, most recently on 12 November, and 16 October. On each of these occasions, I met separately with Michel Barnier and I also met briefly with a range of EU colleagues.
Over the past six months, I met with many of my counterparts on a bilateral basis, both in Ireland and abroad. This includes Heiko Maas, my German counterpart, who I met en marge of the German Ambassadors’ Conference in Berlin in August, and my Estonian, Lithuanian and Finnish counterparts in September. More recently, I have held bilateral meetings with the Polish Foreign Minister and European Affairs Minister, as well as Jean-Yves Le Drian, my French counterpart last month.
In all my meetings, I have been struck by the solidarity and unity of our EU partners with Ireland on the issue of the backstop. As part of the draft Withdrawal Agreement, we have a legally operable guarantee that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland. This would not have been possible without the unity and understanding displayed by our fellow EU27 Member States, as well as Michel Barnier and his team.
In addition to the above, my officials are in frequent contact with both their counterparts in EU Member States and institutions, as well as with the EU Task Force. Officials from my department, attend the Coreper (Article 50), as well as regular working group meetings, with officials from relevant Government Departments, which deal with the negotiations and brexit preparations.
